Initial Search:
Audrey is a company that is considerate of the planet in the design
and creation of unique fashions. It is sustainable and fair to both
the people that make the products and to the materials. This
is still something that I will work out in fine detail, however for
now I believe that it is a company that is good to the planet and
promotes good style in a sustainable way.
I started my research by finding what it out there at the moment in
regards to environmentally cautious fashion. I learned that there
are lots of companies out there at the moment that are jumping on
the sustainability band wagon.

Considerations:
What materials are sustainable?
What materials use fair trade practices?
What shipping methods do they have?
What are the workers treated like?
Who is the competition?
Who is the world leader in sustainable fashion?
What makes them successful?
Who is the target market?
Where is sustainable fashion currently sold? Why? Who is there?
Is there a slow (fashion) design movement?

Good Materials:
I consider good materials to be materials that come from places
in the world where the workers can afford the clothing that they
are making, that they can feed their families, and have shelter. I
believe that good materials comes from workers that are treated
the way I want to be treated â&#x20AC;&#x201C; fairly with respect and a good wage.
Good materials do not put toxins in our water supply or in our soil
and they are not a source of massive greenhouse gas emissions.

Organic Cotton
25% of all insecticides used globally are used for growing cotton.
These chemicals pollute soil and water and thereby killing wildlife
and being harmful to the people that work on the land. Organic
cotton is not chemically dependent, and uses natural approaches
for growing that are both sustainable for the planet and the
framers and their communities.

Upcycled
Upcycled materials are materials that have been used before â&#x20AC;&#x201C;
with a previous life. Things like car tires are now seen are shoe
soles.

Hemp
Hemp is one of the strongest and most durable natural fibres on
the planet! It grows quickly without the need for much water, and
produces is more sustainable to grow than cotton.

Linen
Made from the fibre of the flax plant, it is 2 to 3 times stronger
than cotton. The cultivating process is much like that of cotton but
uses less water. Linen and cotton is often mixed to create a great
product that has a luxurious and rich.

Bamboo
Bamboo does not need pesticides or fertilizers, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s roots retain
water, thus sustaining the riverbanks and reducing water pollution.
It grows quickly and is extremely sustainable. The fabrics are very
soft, and drape like silk â&#x20AC;&#x201C; beautiful alternative to cotton.

These images are from the Kuyichi website â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the rigid and natural
look is what I envision for Audrey

The
Competition:
There is definitely a differentiation between what is out there
currently and Audrey. Here is a list of similar companies I have
found that would pose as competition in the market.
People Tree
Nau
Sweetgrass
BTC Elements
EG
Kuyichi

Target Market
My primary target group is women, aged 25 – 40 year, who are
style conscious and care for the impact of their consumer choices.
They shop locally when they can, they buy their groceries at
farmer’s markets and grow their own vegetable gardens. They use
public transit or a bicycle as transportation, yet they remain stylish
and unique. They have an artsy side; either by photography, film,
or even decorating their home. They blog – people value their
opinions, whether they know them or not, they are trusted.
THEY WANT:
• style for everyday wear, both day & night
• unique clothing that will make them feel like they are making a
statement with what they wear.
• customizable.
• comfort
• low environmental impact
• friendly to the workers that make their clothing
• they would rather shop locally
My secondary target group is young women, aged 15 – 25, who
are just starting to be conscious of their environmental impact
through their clothing. I want to target this group with a message
that being green in style doesn’t mean you need to walk around
in rags. Above all this group wants a unique style that they can
personalize.

One thing is for
sure that is that
Audrey is about
style â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it has a sense
in fashion which has
both a feminine and
masculine feel â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the
ripped, handmade
aspect of the
brand is the more
masculine side,
while the twirly,
scriptiness relates
to the feminine side
of the brand.

Words
In order to figure out if I should change the name, I am creating a
list of words that I believe relate to what I envision this brand to be.
ADJECTIVES
Thoughtful
Peace
Love
Happiness
Slow
Appreciative
Caring
Futuristic
Knowledge
Style
Trendsetter
Hip
Feminine
Masculine?
Rigid
Unique
Custom
Personal style
Meta messaging
Flow
Energy
Rhythm
One
Indie
Vintage
History
Story
Time
Handmade
Good
Freedom
Organic
Decor

Brand Story
Development:
Audrey is considerate of the planet in the design and creation of unique fashions for
women. They recognize that the planet is fragile, and also that women need to feel good
about themselves, with a knowledge that they are making the right decisions regarding
their style and the planet.
Audrey designs clothing for women in a method that is sustainable and fair to both the
people that make the products and to the materials. The are good to the planet and
promote good style in a sustainable way.
Audrey recognizes that women need to express themselves with the styles they wear â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it
conveys their personality and their sense of value. Audrey is a fashion line that is not just
dressing women in unique and beautiful styles, but they do it with a conscious. Audrey
recognizes that the planet is in trouble, and that every action big and small has an impact
on a global scale. By using organic and fair trade materials they are reducing the amount
of chemicals from pesticides that are ending up in water systems â&#x20AC;&#x201C; chemicals that are
killing wildlife and are harmful to humans. By being good to the people who farm the
materials, Audrey is also being good for the planet. They use fair trade suppliers as a
way to not support poor labour wages or slave labour, and to respect the source of the
beautiful materials for their garments.

who they are.

what they do.

why they do it.

By respecting the environment and the people who grow the materials, they are respecting
their products and also the women who need a source of good style and fashions with the
worry of guilt for their choices. It makes a difference emotionally to both Audrey and the
consumers of their garments. It also makes a difference environmentally and socially.

what difference
it makes.

Audrey is connecting with villages in rural areas around the world and developing a
relationship with the workers that is sustainable to both the workers and the environment.
As Audrey grows, more relationships will be made with a goal to support and fund
education in these rural communities.

what is their
future, and the
inspirational
and aspirational
aspects that will
drive them there.

Final Brand Story:

We are kind to
the planet and
to ourselves.
We believe that style should be kind to the environment and to the people of the
planet, while tailoring to the need for elegant style for thoughtful urban women.
From the considerations we take when we buy our materials to the programs we
offer for the people living in communities who carefully craft the elegant fabric, we
are constantly monitoring our sustainability practices and social responsibilities we
have in those communities. The elegance lies in the organic fabrics that are durable,
lovely, stylish, and above all ethically traded with sustainable growing practices. The
fashions are as timeless as the name, and as elegant as women want to feel day and
night. By respecting the environment and the people of the planet we create unique
fashions for women that make a positive difference environmentally, socially and also
personally for the unique and kind women.

I decided that the best way to tell the story of Audrey was to include the readers as part
of the brand, after all it is their brand and they are part of it.

Type exploration
The next step for me was to choose a direction,
and by that I thought to explore my font library.

After looking through some signatures and script fonts, I decided
to take it a step further. With choosing the beautiful elegant
Burgues Script, I decided that roughing it up a bit to create a
more â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;stampâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; like feel would add to the uniqueness to the brand.
It has the elegant turns and twirls of loose threads and offers a
quality that appears hand rendered. I read recently in the book
Fingerprint by the Chen Design Associates, that handmade design
is considered by the public as being more authentic, more real,
and that way it is valued for itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s uniqueness. A brand that has this
appearance would not just be valued more, but would be trusted...
as though a friend made the clothing.

Sketches:

These are a few of the sketches that were originally spawned from
my type exploration. At that point I decided that a good direction for
the logo would be to have a handmade, scripty undertone to reflect
the uniqueness of the brand... And so this is what I sketched:

Visual Identity
Development:

These are my initial concepts for the visual identity for Audrey.

More Sketches:

The following few pages showcase my many, many sketches.

...And then, there it was, and I knew in my
gut it was the right direction. The curves
were perfect, so elegant and stylish. I knew
it was time to stop the madness of writing
Audrey over and over again in a multitude
of writing instruments. I finally had a
direction to go with this visual identity.

Visual Identity:
Once I made the perfect signature for Audrey, it was time to put
it into action, so I explored the overlapping light signatures in the
background, and at the moment Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not sure which is the best
direction, but all 3 versions of this concept seem to work for me.

Tweaks
With some tweaks here and there, I'm hoping that the logo is near
competition. I took out some of the natural flaws â&#x20AC;&#x201C; like the bump
from the A that was in the U. I also added a counter to the E and
spaced out the last couple letters so that the E wasn't so squished.

Secondary Graphical Elements
This scripty element came from my sketches and idea that
the logo should have multiple layers of scripts. After much
deliberation I decided that the background signatures will be
better suited as a secondary design element, used with out
without the logo depending on application. This gave me the
freedom to use this textural graphical element throughout the
brand book and applications.

Photography
In order to get the exact look I wanted for the Audrey brand, I
needed to do it myself – Plus I figured this would be a good use
of showing my photography skills. So I got a friend that was in my
target market – young professional who is style conscious... and we
headed to the Distillery District in Toronto for a photoshoot. I had
together a number of different outfits that I thought represented
Audrey, and I shot in a few different locations in the Distillery. The
brick background really conveyed the edge and rough aspects of
Audrey. The image world that I originally put together was nice,
however I felt that it was a bit too light and airy and there wasn't
enough of that urban, edgy quality to them. This photoshoot was
a huge success for me – with 500+ photos to choose from, I ended
up with quite a few beautiful shots.

Colour
Exploration:
Once I made the perfect signature for Audrey, it was time to put
it into action, so I explored the overlapping light signatures in the
background, and at the moment Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not sure which is the best
direction, but all 3 versions of this concept seem to work for me.

Typography
I am exploring, heading, subheading and body copy fonts that
would work well the Audrey brand. These fonts will be use in the
brand manual and as part of the visual identity in such things as
garment tags and signage.

Brand Book
Here I am exploring the layout of the brand book for Audrey.
The book will be the same size as this one; 8 X 10. I find
that this is a nice and manageable size. The paper will be an
uncoated 100% recycled stock, so something like Enviro100
from Cascades or Rollands. There will be no bleach used in the
process of making the paper, and ideally the paper company
will have used renewable energy in their paper making process.
(I believe Enviro100 does). If the budget allows for it, the book
will be printed using vegetable based inks. The book will not be
very bright, considering the stock, however I don't think that it
needs to be for this brand and actually says something deeper
about the brand â&#x20AC;&#x201C; that they actually care for more than just their
pocketbook.

Stationery Development
This is the initial concept for the business card and letterhead.

I'm kind of thinking that it's a bit dark
for the brand, although the layout works
well. I ended up going lighter, with the
contact information on the reverse side.
I concentrated on the paper stock as
the element that provides an additional
element that links this card to the Audrey
brand â&#x20AC;&#x201C; ReviveÂŽ is the paper stock that I
would choose for the stationery package
because it is made from 100% PWC
Recycled paper, and produced at a plant
that used wind energy in the manufacturing
of the paper.

Website & Ads
I decided to take 2 approaches to the visual advertisements. The
first is entirely based an introduction to the brand â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it is simplistic
and doesn't go into long paragraphs of copy. It is an introduction
that gets people intrigued and leads them to the Audrey website
for more info. The second advertisement display the clothing over
an introduction. It specifically says what the clothing is made from
and a small call to action that leads people to the website.
The website I decided to keep is the warm, brown colour palette.
I kept it looking natural with plenty of texture. I decided to
show 2 pages, the home page and also the Outfits page under
the heading; 'Clothes'. All outfits have been named after words
associated with the distillery district in Toronto â&#x20AC;&#x201C; this gives it the
urban style that I was after â&#x20AC;&#x201C; urban and elegant style for the planet
conscious fashionista.

Smile shorts
from strong &
durable hemp

Pure caridigan
from ultra soft
organic bamboo

Mindful Elegance
for the planet
conscious
fashionista

Urbanist boots
from upcycled leather
and used vehicle tires
for the soles

To find a store location near you
or to shop online visit
www.audreyelegance.com